At the end of November 2020 we wrote to thirty two bishops known to be supportive of LGBTIQ+ people in the Church of England following the publication of videos by The Church of England Evangelical Council and Christian Concern. Every letter was addressed, topped and tailed by hand.

We asked the bishops a number of questions:

Will they provide absolute assurance of proper safeguarding for LGBTIQ+ people who may wish to participate in the LLF process?
Will they state publicly their support for a new, radical inclusion of LGBTIQ+ members of the Church of England based on a twenty-first century understanding?
How can the LLF process be re-imagined in conjunction with the existing LGBTQI+ networks to enable a process that is safe and constructive for us to pave the way to a resolution to be brought to Synod in 2022?
Are they able to express public support for the full equality of LGBTIQ+ people in ministry and relationship in the Church of England?

We are about to send a second letter to these bishops in response to the replies we received. The text can be found at the end of this blog. If you would like to add your name to the signatories, please email your title, name and post held to ccmcoward@aol.com.

The following ten bishops replied to the letter:

+Buckingham
+Chichester
+Crediton
+Oxford
+Croydon
+Exeter
+Leeds
+Norwich
+St Albans
++York

Bishop Alan Wilson (+Buckingham) responded with a long email, a detailed and entirely positive response to our letter. Bishop Jonathan Clark (Croydon) posted a thoughtful blog. Both responded soon after receiving our letter. One bishop sent the pro-forma letter being sent to those in the diocese requesting information about LLF.

Below is the essence of the letters from the seven other bishops who replied

“Thank you for your letter. My hope is that, with others who share responsibility for the life of the diocese, we shall work with the materials provided by LLF, doing all we can to make safe space for the widest participation possible.” (That is the entire letter)

“The bishops of the Diocese noted your letter in its scheduled discussion for rolling out LLF in the diocese. We intend to use the LLF resources and process, offering all the safety and security we possibly can for all involved. Our focus is on the Diocese for which we hold responsibility, and we intend not to be distracted by what others might be doing.” (That is almost the entire letter)

“The diocese held a Study Day of resources. Over 270 clergy, readers and lay chairs signed up for the day. We have received positive feedback. I have appointed a colleague [bishop] as our ‘LLF Advocate’. We have also a dedicated page on our Diocesan Website.” (I have heavily edited this letter to preserve confidentiality. There was nothing in response to the contents of our letter)

“I am committed to the LLF process and your letter has prompted me to look again, and challenge colleagues both nationally in this diocese, to find ways to enable this time of discernment to be a safe one for LGBTI+ people. I will do that with all my heart and soul.”

“As you will be aware, I have spoken out about inclusion on a number of occasions.

I deeply regret that the CEEC and CC should have produced films which do not abide by the spirit of the LLF process.

We are planning to roll out discussions in the new year with bishops taking a lead in the process. If you wish to keep track of how things are going, then do not hesitate to be in touch.”

“I am also determined to speak positively about the process, cherishing and celebrating the place of LGBTI people in the church.”

“I will be looking for creative and helpful ways to set out my own views in answer to the points you have raised in your final paragraph in ways which are supportive and helpful to the overall LLF process and supportive of a change in the Church of England’s present position.”

The following twenty two bishops did not reply:

+Aston
+Barking
+Bradford area, Leeds
+Bradwell
+Dover
+Ely
+Gloucester
+Grantham
+Hull
+Huntingdon
+Liverpool
+Loughborough
+Manchester
+Newcastle
+Portsmouth
+Reading
+Ripon
+Salisbury
+St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
+Sherborne
+Southwark
+Thetford
+Worcester

Text of the second letter to be sent January 2021

We wrote to you in November as bishops known to be supportive of LGBTIQ+ members of the Church of England.

We asked you, either as individuals or jointly, to speak publicly about your personal support for the Living in Love and Faith process and your hope that it will lead the Church of England to grant LGBTIQ+ people an equal space in the Church. We asked you more specific questions:-

Will you provide absolute assurance of proper safeguarding for LGBTIQ+ people who may wish to participate?
Will you state publicly your support for a new, radical inclusion of LGBTIQ+ members of the Church of England based on a twenty-first century understanding?
How can the LLF process be re-imagined in conjunction with LGBTQI+ networks to pave the way to a resolution that is constructive for us to be brought to Synod in 2022?
As a matter of urgency will you express public support for the full equality of LGBTIQ+ people in ministry and relationship in the Church of England?

Of the thirty-two bishops we wrote to, ten replied. Two of you responded at length. One of you responded directly and positively to some of the questions we posed. Three of you responded positively but didn’t address our questions. Three of you sent replies repeating theoretical statements about the Living in Love and Faith process that didn’t address our questions. One of you sent the pro-forma response being sent to enquirers from within the diocese. Twenty-two of you didn’t reply at all. Only one of you has indicated a willingness to publicly commit their support for a new, radical inclusion of LGBTIQ+ members of the Church of England based on a twenty-first century understanding.

We are very disappointed with this response to our letter in view of the seriousness of the context created by the LLF process.

In a post on the Diocesan web site the Archbishop of York recognises “that the conversations we will need to have may be difficult”, made more so by the "specific and harmful targeting of some of the individuals who have courageously shared their stories as part of LLF", a reference to the videos posted by the Church of England Evangelical Council and Christian Concern. We continue to be seriously concerned about the participation of LGBTIQ+ people in the LLF project. You are not yet fully aware of the institutionalised homophobic and transphobic attitudes and teaching within the Church. The evidence we are receiving from dioceses shows that bishops and those organising the LLF process still do not understand the necessity of implementing systems to ensure LGBTIQ+ participants are protected.

The Living in Love and Faith process is designed, from our perspective, either to rationalise prejudice against LGBTIQ+ people or to help those in the Church of England to understand and overcome their prejudices. Why would we want become involved in this process and risk the abuse that is impossible for you to contain?

LLF is yet another attempt to resolve the need of the institutional Church to find a way of out of a conundrum, a conundrum set out well in the six approaches to listening to the Bible outlined in chapter thirteen and the four edited conversations recorded in part five of the LLF book. The majority of LGBTIQ+ members of the Church of England no longer live in or wish to live in this conflicted, unhealthy dynamic. We are not apologising for or justifying our lives. We are living within the same parameters of love, sexual intimacy, commitment, and fidelity as the heterosexual majority. This includes couples in civil partnerships who ignore the bishops’ prohibition on sexual activity.

At the moment the commitment to a new radical inclusion for LGBTIQ+ people is dependent on the outcome of the conversations and consultations that will happen in every diocese over the next eighteen months.

We ask again - are you prepared to ensure that when the LLF process returns to Synod in 2022 you will take responsibility for tabling proposals that will enact the Archbishops’ commitment to radical inclusion? Radical inclusion means for us equality in ministry and relationships with heterosexual and cisgender people.

Yours sincerely,

Signed by Jeremy Timm, former chair Changing Attitude England on behalf of:

The Revd Dr Tina Beardsley, Former member LLF Co-ordinating Group Member
The Revd Colin Coward, MBE, Founder and first Director Changing Attitude England
Rev. Canon Jane Richards, Vicar - St Andrew’s with Holy Cross, Basildon; Area Dean - Basildon Deanery The Revd John Seymour, Parish Priest (interim) St Lawrence, Eastcote
The Revd Robert Thompson, Vicar of St James West Hampstead and St Mary w All Souls Kilburn
Penelope Cowell Doe, Diocese of Exeter